Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

NewsFedora said:
Wouldn't surprise me if it's a cache/server issue and will refresh sometime overnight.

Somebody on Reddit is mad because his Run DMC order turned into fucking Saba and like, dude. I wish my records would randomly turn into Saba. These student loans ain't gonna pay themselves.
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Bohnjaggs said:
Maybe I should sell my Saba 🤔
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I just searched my discogs collection to see how much Saba is going for and turns out I have one thats worth even more. I ordered his 'Bucket List Project' in the Omerta sale a couple of years ago (less tha £20 all in) and its now apparently worth £135 medium........god damn
 
I kinda agreed with @NathanRicaud on the warp and VMP thing in general.
Warps I’ve found are generally unavoidable no matter what company it is and VMP is no worse than anyone else. I tend not to worry as long as it isn’t major and doesn’t effect playback.

VMPs constant issues are extremely frustrating and with how much I have to write in to CS, I’ve definitely asked myself multiple times “Is it worth it?” but I’ve always landed on yes. At the end of the day I like VMPs curation and product and have so many records I love in my collection from being a subscriber. I get over the issues (until the next ones) but always have the records.

I know some will disagree but I also don’t feel the VMP guys have any malicious intent or desire to fuck over the customer base and are always trying to make the best call for the company, whether that ends up being the right call or not. Their biggest issue is only hiring Music Bros instead of real business professionals to keep things on track (pure speculation But we’ve seen enough to support this). End of the day, I am rooting for the company and hope they get their shit together.
 
wynn72 said:
I kinda agreed with @NathanRicaud on the warp and VMP thing in general.
Warps I’ve found are generally unavoidable no matter what company it is and VMP is no worse than anyone else. I tend not to worry as long as it isn’t major and doesn’t effect playback.

VMPs constant issues are extremely frustrating and with how much I have to write in to CS, I’ve definitely asked myself multiple times “Is it worth it?” but I’ve always landed on yes. At the end of the day I like VMPs curation and product and have so many records I love in my collection from being a subscriber. I get over the issues (until the next ones) but always have the records.

I know some will disagree but I also don’t feel the VMP guys have any malicious intent or desire to fuck over the customer base and are always trying to make the best call for the company, whether that ends up being the right call or not. Their biggest issue is only hiring Music Bros instead of real business professionals to keep things on track (pure speculation But we’ve seen enough to support this). End of the day, I am rooting for the company and hope they get their shit together.
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Warps are very avoidable. I buy the vast majority of mine in store and warps are incredibly rare.

BazookaTooth said:
i had a lot more warps with vmp than any other dealer though and it aint close.
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yep this, for less than 10% of my collection they account for an absurdly high percentage of my warped records!
 
Joe Mac said:
Warps are very avoidable. I buy the vast majority of mine in store and warps are incredibly rare.



yep this, for less than 10% of my collection they account for an absurdly high percentage of my warped records!
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Ok Fair, I should say warps are unavoidable buying online in the mass amounts I do. I would love to buy exclusively at stores but living in NY it makes no financial sense for me. I have about 20+ records come in a month and if I got stressed about every warp I’d drive myself crazy.
My VMP boxes also comes in between 10-12 month and while I’ve had warps (and a couple bad ones) I can’t say it’s a much higher number than from other places. I may be lucky or the fact that I live not as far as some from NC may work in my favor
 
wynn72 said:
Ok Fair, I should say warps are unavoidable buying online in the mass amounts I do. I would love to buy exclusively at stores but living in NY it makes no financial sense for me. I have about 20+ records come in a month and if I got stressed about every warp I’d drive myself crazy.
My VMP boxes also comes in between 10-12 month and while I’ve had warps (and a couple bad ones) I can’t say it’s a much higher number than from other places. I may be lucky or the fact that I live not as far as some from NC may work in my favor
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Your right there is a higher risk but even with online, and most of that is amazon, I’ve had 3 non VMP warps from music direct. I’ve had at least 3 times that in about 18 VMP shipments. That not to count the almost monthly seem splits and the badly pressed crackly (Beach House Rice Crispies edition) ones. QC still hasn’t been addressed or improved, it’s just maybe that the rising of other problems has lessened the gaze on it.
 
NathanRicaud said:
Mmmmm I totally know where you’re coming from! But I guess I’m just used to warps not only from VMP but from so much other places I buy my vinyl from, especially with new releases! My Tyler The Creator IGOR Vinyl was warped, my Lana Del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell Vinyl was warped and my Charli XCX Charli Vinyl was warped. I got Tyler The Creator and Lana Del Aretha directly from their site. I’ve got Michael Kiwanuka on the way, and there’s a good chance one of the two discs will be warped. Even one of discs of my Prince’s Originals was severely warped. Like, literally, so much vinyl I buy nowadays is warped. Urban Outfitters as well, like 30-40% of their vinyl are warped. BlueNote80 - same thing, around 20%-30% of their discs are warped 😔😢🤦‍♂️

I think production is just out of control. Like I said before, Blue Note Tone Poet, Analogue Productions and MoFi have all been flawless. All the records I got from RSD 2019 were flawless too! And most new releases I get are very good too!

But damn, like so much vinyl I buy is warped. I just kinda accept it, unless it’s an extremely bad warp. And of course, surface noise/distortion matters the most!

I really appreciate your input too. I’m reading all the comments and am listening. I definitely understand where you’re coming from. I guess I don’t help the quality control situation by just being a bit “meh” towards it. But......I’m going to spend just less on vinyl overall from the 1st of January, 2020! 😇
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@Nathaniel.D & @wynn72 , I agree with both of you, VMP aren't the only ones delivering warped albums, it's one of the main reasons I bought a vinyl flat.........reluctantly. I don't feel it's MY job to fix warped records, especially newly released records, but it is what it is. That being said, my feelings about all this extends to all retailers, but as @BazookaTooth mentioned, and I found to be true as well, is that VMP is at the top of the list not only in warps, but screw ups in general and not by a small margin. This was the main reason I canceled my sub about a year ago, because, FOR ME, it wasn't worth it and for the most part the albums they were releasing could be found elsewhere, or later, minus their "VMP Treatment".

But again, to each his own, and I believe the intention of all those chiming in isn't to shame anyone who still subscribes to VMP, but to help you understand that you don't have to accept it and you do have choices.
 
Joe Mac said:
Your right there is a higher risk but even with online, and most of that is amazon, I’ve had 3 non VMP warps from music direct. I’ve had at least 3 times that in about 18 VMP shipments. That not to count the almost monthly seem splits and the badly pressed crackly (Beach House Rice Crispies edition) ones. QC still hasn’t been addressed or improved, it’s just maybe that the rising of other problems has lessened the gaze on it.
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Yeah don’t get me wrong, the QC needs a lot of work and that’s part of what I am talking about. I’m definitely not letting them off the hook, I just am on the side where the QC issues doesn’t outweigh the positives for me. VMP is definitely worth it to me because of the product, despite them clearly having no idea how to actually run a company
 
Thinking back now that the dust has settled, I'm still not 100% sure what I'll do with my sub. My GF still likes it, so at the least we'd keep mine with the grandfathered pricing of $24/month and drop her sub. When I remember that I'm only paying $24ish, VMP is less annoying. I think I might continue to buy less and less exclusives unless they hit sales though. Most of VMP's releases aren't worth more than $25ish, especially when factoring in the headaches. But they do occasionally knock one out of the park and that's the real hook that has kept me. But if I leave, I'd have a harder time justifying it at a higher price point.

Hopefully the swaps will bounce back to having more variety, because the selection this month was pretty bleak. That could end up being a deal breaker though as I do swap a few times a year. Luckily since I'm only on one track, it usually leaves a few more swaps of interest. Cutting virtually all exclusives will cut a lot of headaches in my mind.
 
Tbh about warps

Maybe it's because I only used Amazon, vmp, Bandcamp, and some specific label stores (and no audiophile level stuff mostly more mainstream and popular indie)

But like most of my records have small warps that are mostly cosmetically bad (everything sounds fine on my end and I can't excuse it on a warped cork mat)..

Hell the label that gave me my copy of Dear Norah's Mountain Rock basically told me to crush it back to flat.. I don't judge vmp for the warps because unless you are super duper careful in the pressing, shrink wrapping, packaging, delivery, and arriving on your doorstep... they are going to warp
 
displayname said:
Thinking back now that the dust has settled, I'm still not 100% sure what I'll do with my sub. My GF still likes it, so at the least we'd keep mine with the grandfathered pricing of $24/month and drop her sub. When I remember that I'm only paying $24ish, VMP is less annoying. I think I might continue to buy less and less exclusives unless they hit sales though. Most of VMP's releases aren't worth more than $25ish, especially when factoring in the headaches. But they do occasionally knock one out of the park and that's the real hook that has kept me. But if I leave, I'd have a harder time justifying it at a higher price point.

Hopefully the swaps will bounce back to having more variety, because the selection this month was pretty bleak. That could end up being a deal breaker though as I do swap a few times a year. Luckily since I'm only on one track, it usually leaves a few more swaps of interest. Cutting virtually all exclusives will cut a lot of headaches in my mind.
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I'm in the same boat. I still have an OG yearly plan, and I like the classics picks. I don't really mess with the store anymore and will sometimes do an add-on if it intrigues me.
 
duke86fan said:
Tbh about warps

because unless you are super duper careful in the pressing, shrink wrapping, packaging, delivery, and arriving on your doorstep... they are going to warp
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I would re-phrase your last sentence.
Unless you are super duper careless in the pressing, etc,....

let's not become warp deniers, by pretending warps are unavoidable.
This is simply not true.

warps occur due to temperature and pressure. If plants process their record properly, the warps do not occur.
if plants do a shit job, or if records are stored carelessly, that's when warps appear.
 
panino said:
I would re-phrase your last sentence.
Unless you are super duper careless in the pressing, etc,....

let's not become warp deniers, by pretending warps are unavoidable.
This is simply not true.

warps occur due to temperature and pressure. If plants process their record properly, the warps do not occur.
if plants do a shit job, or if records are stored carelessly, that's when warps appear.
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So blame Gz?

And not enough protection
 
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